Thoughts About The Kingdom of Heaven (Movie)

I watched Kingdom of Heaven today. If you haven't yet, I highly recommend it. I expected the movie to be overly preachy and pointlessly violent. However, I was surprised to find that there was an overwhelming message of peace throughout.

What many people may not realize is that the characters in the movie were actually (loosely) based on real people -- people who have many descendants alive today.

Since this is a genealogy blog, I'll focus on my own relatives.

The King of Jerusalem in the movie was Baldwin IV. He was the son of the half-brother of my ancestor Geoffrey Plantagenet, duc de Normandy. That being the case, King Baldwin IV is my 1st cousin, 28 times removed.

Much of the movie was romanticized; though he was a leper, Baldwin IV never wore a mask. However, I was proud, in a way, of the scene right after he died, when Sibylla removed his mask, because it showed his true face, the face that many lepers possess if they don't have access to modern leprosy antibiotics. And when they showed his face, it was clear that the movie-makers intended the moment to be beautiful, instead of frightening. I found that very touching. Sibylla was looking at her brother's face for the first time in many years. Rather than being disgusted or frightened, she looked down on him in sisterly love and sorrow for the fact that he had been cut down in his prime, due to a terrible disease.

Another aspect of the movie I enjoyed was that even though it was, again, romanticized, parts of it also rang very true -- especially at the beginning when they were in France. Today, what happened to the body of Balian's first wife would be appalling, but back then, suicide was considered a major crime against God. Still, it was unnerving to think about.

On another point about Balian: he wasn't a very young man (like Orlando Bloom, who played him in the movie) when he went to Jerusalem. He was in his forties, which might be considered young today; back then, however, it was considered to be getting on up there in years. Furthermore, it's never been proven that he and Sibylla were in love. Balian actually married Maria Comnena who was Sibylla's stepmother. That made Balian the step-father to Sibylla's younger half-sister, Isabella, who would go on to be Queen of Jerusalem after Sibylla.

Sibylla, on the other hand, married Guy de Lusignan AFTER she was crowned Queen.

By-and-large, it was the lives of Balian and Sibylla who were most heavily fictionalized.

All-in-all, though, I thought the acting was great. Orlando Bloom's performances was kinda blah, though.

How am I related to the kings of Jerusalem? Through the Warrens, of course, which you can read more about here.

Ancestor Spotlight: Matilda of Flanders

Quick Facts

Name: Matilda of Flanders

Lifetime: 1031-November 2, 1083

Height: 4'2" (127cm)

Interesting Fact: England's shortest queen ever.

Spouse: William the Conqueror

Anecdote: Thought she was too highly born to marry William, who was of less than reputable birth. So, he smacked her around a bit until she agreed to marry him.

How she's related to me: She's my 30th great-grandma (meaning she's my great grandma, thirty generations back). Her descendants married into the de Warrenes, whom I mentioned in my previous post.

Mary Warren, my closest ancestor bearing the Warren name, married Thomas Burgess in Orange County Virginia in 1735. My descent from them is as follows:

Mary Warren m. Thomas Burgess
Nancy Burgess m. William Stuart
Agnes Stuart m. Henry Burch
Agnes Jane Burch m. John Newton Bell
Canarisa "Caney" Louisa Bell m. Miles Glenn Alley
Mary Agnes Alley m. Bobby Happle Ramsey
Glenn Newton Ramsey m. Ida Ellen Renaud-Cole and produced my grandmother

What's interesting is: the females in my family have all been short and I have to wonder if it has anything to do with Matilda of Flanders' genes. After all, at 5'5" (165cm) I'm the tallest female of the bunch on that side (my mom's side). Granted, my dad is also a descendant of William and Matilda (but that's a different story).

The Warren-Plantagenet Connection

Warren is a common surname throughout most English speaking countries. And, as a surname, we think of it as English, because it is. In its current form, the name Warren was first used in England. However, it's initial origins are different: it's a Norman name.

Behind the Name's surname site states that Warren is derived from "warrene" which is Normah French for "enclosure"; the word has Germanic origins because -- well -- the Normans were originally Norse...hence their name (Normans = Norsemen).

Through my research into my own past, I've discovered the name to have two meanings. Firstly, the one Behind the Name Gave. The second is also of Norman origin; however, it's slightly different. One of my Warren branches descends from a man named Guillaume de Varrene, Earl of Surrey. La Varrene is a place in France; I wonder if it, too, means "enclosure".

The other branch of my Warren family members descends from Hamelin Plantagenet de Warrene, Earl of Surrey. Hamelin was the son of Geoffrey Plantagenet, Comte d'Anjou et Maine. Hamelin's grandfather was King Fulk V of Jerusalem, Comte d'Anjou.

So, how do the two lines meet? They meet with the marriage of Guillame's great-granddaughter, Isabel de Warrene, and Hamelin's grandson, William de Warrene, Earl of Surrey.

Currently, I'm working on how to establish a connection between King Fulk V and Guillame. Guillame was forty years older than Fulk; I wonder if he was an uncle, great-uncle, or some other male relative, since the name de Warrene is found in both lines.